Heads up: Top comment and controversy

Pete Townshend explains child porn searches

28 September 2012 11:54 AM

The Evening Standard

Rock legend Pete Townshend has opened up for the first time about his arrest in 2003 on suspicion of using child pornography. Speaking to the Times, the Who guitarist described his decision to investigate as a result of "white knight syndrome".

“It’s a product of success,” said Townshend, speaking from his home in Richmond, southwest London. “I had experienced something creepy as a child, so you imagine: what if I was a girl of 9 or 10 and my uncle had raped me every week? I felt I had an understanding, and I could help.”

In a bid to prove that child abuse has a financial chain tying Russian orphanages to British banks, Townshend also paid £7 to sign up to a child pornography site, before immediately cancelling the transaction.

Police found nothing when they searched his computer, but as the Times article reports, "the damage to his image had been done".